Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter and printmaker. He was born on December 12, 1863 and died on January 23rd 1944. His art works were greatly influenced by expressionism and one of his most famous creation is “The Scream” (1893). His works are generally quite obscure and depicts a sentiment of fear. His early life seems to have been an influence to his genre. His family was tormented with illness. His mother died when he was five years old and he was raised by his father who suffered from a mental illness. The latter raised him and his siblings through fear causing the artist to grow up with repressed feelings and emotions. He showed an interest in drawing during his early life but did not receive any training. He went to a Technical university to study engineering but left to become a painter. In 1885, Munch went to Paris where he was exposed to French Impressionism which greatly influenced him.
The Storm was painted by Edvard Munch in 1893. At first look, you just see a number of buildings, probably houses and some people in the foreground. But if you take a deeper look at it, you understand why it is named “The Storm”. Apparently, the painting was inspired by a violent storm in Asgardstrand which is a town in Norwa. The sky in the picture looks greyish, as if it was about to rain but that also evokes an element of darkness. The trees are bended, depicting strong winds. In the foreground, there are five persons, with what seem to be a woman in front of them. The woman is wearing white clothes and has blond hair. We cannot clearly depict her facial expression but she seems to be scared. Her hands are covering her ears or the side of her face, as if she was screaming. From the shape of her dress, her legs seem to be in a running position suggesting that she is plausibly trying to get away or escape something. She is separated from the crowd that is the five other women in the back. I believe that she is the center of this piece of art. Munch was literally trying to depict someone escaping a storm, maybe an inner storm.
This work clearly embodies the elements of Modernism, more specifically Expressionism and Impressionism. Impressionism is the creation of images without details, where the colors are bold and there is no clarity of form. This image perfectly depicts those ideas as we can see and understand what is in it but we cannot perfectly identify its expressions and the details are vague. Impressionists rely on the idea that what the eye perceives is different than what the brain understands. What we see as a storm might have actually been something deeper to Munch. Expressionism works in order to present the world in a subjective state where images are used in order to bring out emotions. This particular art reflects a state of darkness and fear, with the main woman trying to express something which we can only see by deeply analyzing it.
I found this painting at the Museum of Modern Art. It was intriguing, mysterious and dark. Despite the lack of clarity into what is happening, from the buildings to the persons, The Storm actually has numerous details which gives us an idea of its settings. I thought the colors were very appropriate to its theme and they invoked a sense of darkness in the painting.